HES Ball: Tickets On Sale Now!

Hand Eye Society Ball: 10th Anniversary Edition

Sept 21, 2019 — The Concert Hall, 888 Yonge St.

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This is a 19+ Event. All attendees will be asked to provide legal ID at the door.

Toronto’s one-night celebration of contemporary art games and playful experiences from around the world returns! Our annual fancy videogame party helps us raise funds to sustain our ongoing year-round programming, as well as contribute towards another amazing decade exploring and supporting the playful arts. We’re planning our biggest bash yet, so don’t delay: Buy your tickets today, and spread the word!

!!!GAMES GAMES GAMES!!!

GAMES, WAVE 1✨

GAMES, WAVE 2✨

#HESBall19 / Twitter / Facebook Event

!!!ART MUSIC FOOD & MORE!!!

DJs, nom noms and special guests!✨

!!!FAQ!!!

Questions + Answers✨

Ticketing Info

Ticket Tier	Ticket Price (HST and Fees not included)
VIP (limit of 150)	$120 Includes 1-year NEW HES Membership
Early Bird (July)	$40
Normal Bird (August)	$50
Right-On-Time Bird (September)	$60
Membership Discount (All Tiers)	HES Members get 15% off all Ticket Tiers above!
Welcome Discount (All Tiers)	New sign-ups for Annual and Studio Memberships get 20% off all Ticket Tiers above!

Sponsorship includes Regular and VIP ticket packages. See our Sponsorship Deck for details.

VIP TICKET-HOLDERS RED ROOM RECEPTION! Get access to a special pre-party reception at 7 PM in 888 Yonge’s fabled Red Room. Have a drink on us, meet the artists, and play a custom mini-game designed exclusively for VIP ticket-holders. Includes a 1-year Hand Eye Society Membership!

DON’T MISS OUR JULY EARLY-BIRD SPECIAL! Save $20 off the regular Sept ticket price! Members get an additional 15-20% off!

HAND EYE SOCIETY MEMBERS GET DISCOUNTS ON ALL TIERS! Not a Member? Sign up now for as little as $5-7/month and get your code upon registration! New Annual and Studio Memberships registered after July 3 get an additional discount. All Members will also receive other perks like 15% off 10th Anniversary HES merch!

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Guest Artists (So Far!)

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Robin Baumgarten

Robin Baumgarten is a German Indie based in London, UK. After researching Artificial Intelligence in Games and working on mobile titles, he is now fully focused on creating playable interactive installations that straddle the divide of games and art, such as Line Wobbler (featured at HES Ball 2016) and Wobble Garden.

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Palgal

Montreal-based Paloma Dawkins AKA Palgal is a cartoonist and self-taught animator turned virtual-reality and video-game artist. Known for her fantastical landscapes inhabited by strange and lovable characters, Paloma strives to create magical spaces inspired by nature and human emotion.

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cos(mos)

cos(mos) is Cale Bradbury’s trip through astrological house music, with snake set wrapping an artistic journey from games>visuals>music back around on itself, bringing all the knowledge gained into an ouroborian experience between the DJ and the players.

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Also featuring poster design by Saffron Aurora, music by Mark Sparling, tech and art by Electric Perfume, and more to be announced soon! Want to join their ranks? Game submissions are open until July 15!

A Party 10,000 Years in the Making

The Thousand-Year Garden is a cooperative Boss Battle for 700 players, featuring unique art, music, and an interactive narrative designed for one night only. Building off the successful elements of last year’s meta-game, The Night of Four Houses, The Thousand-Year Garden will feature custom-made art, experiences, and immersive gameplay by Mark Sparling, Palgal, Electric Perfume, and more, exclusive to Hand Eye Society Ball 2019.

Explore the Playful Arts Throughout the Multiverse! Dive into alternate timelines featuring various incarnations of the Hand Eye Society throughout ancient history and beyond.
By Our Powers Combined! Complete sidequests and mini-games to gradually wear down The Party Crasher until the final Midnight Showdown.
Special Themed Mini-Game for VIP Ticket Holders! Join us in the Red Room for a drink, engagement with the artists, and an exclusive interactive experience custom-made for sponsors and VIP ticket-holders. You may even discover special powers that will be useful in the battle to come…

Get Involved

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We curate artsy games, interactive installations, and playful experiences from Toronto and around the world.

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Support our non-profit and fuel the next decade of year-round programming and initiatives.

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Join the team and help make this a night to remember.

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Sponsorship Inquiries: amana@highnessglobal.com; sagan@handeyesociety.com
General Information: ball@handeyesociety.com
Ticketing and Other Announcements: Subscribe to our Newsletter

FAQ

So many changes this year! What’s going on?

The Hand Eye Society Ball was initially conceived in 2014 as a fundraiser as well as a super cool party, and this year we’ve made some changes to better reflect that intention. With the cost of venue rentals rising and the sheer amount of effort that goes into putting on a production this big every year, we are taking steps to make sure that ticket pricing and sponsorship tiers reflect the true cost of supporting Hand Eye Society’s year-round activities, the vast majority of which are free and open to the public. We will continue to do our best to make sure that all our events are as accessible as possible, while still meeting the long-term needs and goals of the organization.

We thank the community for every single bit of support that comes our way, and look forward to another 10 amazing years of supporting the independent games community in Toronto and beyond!

Where does the money raised from the Ball go?

All proceeds from the Ball will go directly to supporting Hand Eye Society’s year-round programming and initiatives, including Comics X Games, WordPlay, Camp Make-a-Game, Game Curious, Fund Futures, workshops, Mississauga programming, our TPL workshops, the Torontron fleet, the monthly newsletter, and many other partnerships and activities too numerous to list here. Additionally, we have many other operational expenses that cannot be fully covered by other revenue sources like government grants. These include purchasing new computers and equipment, renting office space (a dream we hope to realize in 2020!), and research and development for new programs.

What is the Meta-Game?

The Meta-Game started in 2015 when we started introducing live performance into the Ball, and has since grown into a much more ambitious tradition. Loosely combining elements of videogames mechanics, Escape Rooms, LARPs, and immersive theatre, the Meta-Game is an immersive narrative that overlays the entire party experience. You can read more about last year’s Meta-Game, The Night of Four Houses, which involved live improv, LED bowties, and a haunted piano with secret codes.

Is this a 19+ event?

Very yes. We will be checking ID at the door, no exceptions.

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Image Credits: Annual General Mischief (top photo) by Little Dada, Len Predko and Anthony Swan, 2016. Photos by Paul Hillier, Dean Tomlinson, and Morgan Hotston. Images by The Noun Project creators: Ashwin Dinesh (Eye), sofi (Game), Nathan Morel (Hand), Janet Cordahi (Top Hat).

Hand Eye Society thanks the following organizations for their support thus far. Want your logo at the bottom of every subsequent HES Ball blog post, or even at the bottom of our monthly newsletter for an entire year? Check out our Sponsorship Deck!

Huge thanks to Ubisoft Toronto, Aird & Berlis LLC, CWA Canada, Game Workers Unite, Slanted Door, MKM Group and ID@Xbox for their support!